Memoirs of Summer Rose
by TsurugiNoMiko
Summary: 3AM Project. A small look into the life of Summer Rose.
1. Prologue

_AN: I own nothing except for the time spent to actually write this...come to think of it, I don't even own time. So yeah I own nothing basically ^.^ Enjoy~!_

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Memoirs of Summer Rose

"Yang! Yang!" Ruby called out as she walked through the house. "Hey, come on! Dad said to clean up the attic while he was gone!"

She made her way up to the second floor with an annoyed look on her face. "YANG!" the girl called out again as her frustration mounted, and she turned around.

"Zwei," she addressed the small dog following her. "Do me a favor and go find Yang." She knelt down and petted him once. "Let her know I'll be upstairs cleaning the attic."

A bark of agreement came from the family Corgi as he began sniffing the ground, looking for a scent to track his objective.

Ruby sighed as she reluctantly pulled the ladder down and made her way into the dusty attic, the smell of old furniture assailing her senses.

"Bleh..." she wafted her hand in front of her while maneuvering towards an old desk. "I'm so going to get her for this one..."

A small grumble escaped her lips as she surveyed the amount of work she needed to do. "Might as well get started."

She psyched herself up and started dusting off the table in front of her when a small pile of books fell to the floor. They landed with a clatter, throwing up a cloud of unsettled dust around them.

"Oh, wonderful" she sarcastically stated between coughs as the dust entered her lungs. "Stupid old books."

She reached down to pick them up when she noticed a white rose embroidered on the cover of one of them. Intrigued, she picked it up for closer examination and noticed that it had seen its fair amount of usage - like it had been on an adventure of its own.

Curiosity caused the girl to open the cover and look inside. _"This diary belongs to Summer Rose of Team STRQ ('Stark')"_ were the first words that greeted her.

"Mom..." Ruby breathed out as she looked around for a place to sit and began sifting through the pages.

 **~xX*Xx~**

June 6th Year 58.

" _Graduation is just around the corner._ " the words began. " _I'm kind of nervous as to what our final exam is_ _going to be. The professors say that each team will be given their own mission and will have a week to complete it._

 _Our instructor, Professor Lylis Azuria, wasn't going easy on any of us at all. Ever since she took her position as headmaster of Beacon Academy, it seems like she's_ _been pushing us harder and harder. She says that our team will do fine, but...I'm not so sure._

 _I mean,_ _we have Raven Branwen, who is just amazing with her Odachi. She has been the brains of our team, always trying to keep things logical and in order. She does seem like a well-rounded person, but she does have her quirks._

 _We have Taiyang Xiao Long who is the brawler-type_ _and rightfully so, as he and Raven get into a lot of fights_ _-_ _and I do mean a lot_ _of fights_ _-_ _be it with each other or together against another team. For the life of me, I cannot_ _understand why he picks on her so much. He abuses the fact that she hates to lose and uses that to provoke her into a confrontation. It's like watching a schoolboy teasing the girl he likes._

 _Next we have Qrow Branwen, Raven's twin brother. He is your typical cool-headed and nonchalant individual, however his main flaw is that he doesn't seem to know when to shut up. I can't recall the number of times we had to do extra work because he couldn't keep his opinions to himself. His passive attitude doesn't quite help with situations_ _either, but his abilities with the scythe are unrivaled._

 _Then there is me, Summer Rose. The poor little girl stuck with being the leader. I feel more like a babysitter than a leader,_ _though;_ _cleaning up the messes Tai and Raven leave behind, trying to force Qrow_ _to study so he can pass to the next grade, answering to Professor Azuria when the team gets into trouble...oh boy._

 _All in all though, I love working with these guys. I say we round each other out. It would be nice to stay together even after graduation."_

"You about ready?" Raven called from the doorway of the room. "The Headmaster wants all graduating students to gather in the auditorium."

"I'll be right there." Summer nodded as she put down her pen. Raven's eyes followed her movements as she stood and carefully stored her diary inside her white cloak.

"I don't think I've ever seen you go anywhere without that book," Raven teased. "If I didn't know any better, I would say that you're hiding all your secret fantasies in there." she leaned in close in a feigned attempt to snatch the book.

"It's just a diary, Raven" she responded. "Who knows? Maybe when we have kids someday they will want to hear about all the adventures and headaches you guys gave me." Summer elbowed her partner jokingly as they left the room.

"You do know that Tai starts all those fights, right?" the red-eyed girl sighed.

"And you let yourself get egged on by his childish taunts."

"I don't 'let myself'! That man is just insufferable sometimes!" she growled lightly. "Someone needs to put him in his place!"

"You should be more laidback like your brother."

"You mean be as lazy and uncaring as my brother?" Raven rolled her eyes. "I wonder how we could be related, sometimes."

"Ow, that hurts" a third voice greeted them from the side.

"Oh, speak of the devil..."

"Now, now." Summer walked between them and interlinked her arms with theirs. "We're about to spend a week together outside of school. Let's at least make it outside of the auditorium without weapons being drawn."

She glanced at both of them in turn with a look that left no room for argument. "Ok?"

"Ok..." Raven reluctantly backed down.

"Whatever you say, mom" Qrow sighed and let himself be dragged as the three of them gathered with the rest of the graduating classes.

"Well look at this" Taiyang greeted his team as they arrived at his location. "You two get in trouble again?" He smirked at the Branwen twins.

"Don't start," Summer warned, releasing Qrow but maintaining her grip on Raven. "If any of you make a scene here, you're in charge of your own dinner. Got it?"

"Your dark side is showing again" Taiyang stated as he backed down.

"I do _not_ have a dark side!"

"You guys are as energetic as always." another voice greeted them.

"Oh, its you, Ozpin" Qrow looked over, stifling a yawn. "Still stuck reading those books?"

"Well, I do plan on becoming headmaster someday." He adjusted his glasses. "It takes more than brute strength to make it in this world you know."

"Baaaah," Qrow waved it off and took a seat. "Wake me up when it's finally over."

"Qrow!" Raven freed herself from Summer's arm and took a step forward.

"It's fine" Ozpin responded "It would be nice though to have him more interested in the current world around us."

"Well by the way he is acting, when he grows up, he's going to be a drunk." she shook her head in defeat.

"Let it go." Taiyang joined in "Besides, we need someone to round out our group and we only need one smart person in the bunch anyway... right, 'Number 2'?" he grinned.

Raven turned her attention to the one mocking her. "You cheated in that last test and you know it!"

"I did not cheat!" Taiyang countered. "I merely turned my paper in before you did and I did a few extra practice questions on the side, so of course they were going to give me first place."

Raven growled. "You know, you make me-"

"Silence please!" A voice echoed through the room from the center stage. "Everyone take your seats."

"Guess I'd better go," Ozpin nodded to the group. "Good luck out there."

"Same to you." Summer smiled before shooting a slightly menacing glare towards her teammates. "Sit." she commanded, getting immediate action as a result.

"Good morning," Professor Azuria tapped the microphone "Good morning" she repeated after it cleared up. "Congratulations to you for making it this far." She smiled slightly as she gazed around the room.

"You all have sacrificed much during your time here - some of you have even sacrificed everything. Yet, you all stand here today as proud members of an elite group that is dedicated to keeping the people safe. As you all know, nearly sixty years ago we fought in one of the largest battles to ever face our world. While we did eventually manage peace, it came at a terrible cost. Now, as the world takes a moment to reflect on their actions, we Hunters will step out and protect it."

She nodded to her right. "Allow me to clear up the rumors regarding your final exam." She stated as mission panels began to fill up the walls of the auditorium. "Much like your field trips over the past few years, you will be partaking in missions throughout the world, however...unlike the years before, you will not have a professional Hunter with you."

Small murmurs echoed throughout the room as some students were uneasy, some even worried, while others were ecstatic about the sudden rise in difficulty. The professor continued,

"Persistence and teamwork have carried you all far, but the things that greet you outside of the protection of the kingdoms will not care. We have been building you all up for this moment. Each year, we provided a Hunter for you to follow, but each year we interfered less and less, allowing you all to slowly develop your skills. Now is the culmination of everything you have learned. Now is your first chance to step forward as true Hunters."

She paused momentarily and looked out into the crowd of students in order to emphasize the point. "Remember your training...and you will make it back alive. Good luck, fellow Hunters."

Silence filled the room with only the Professor Azuria's steps echoing as she walked away from center stage. The air felt heavy as the headmaster's words sank in to each and every student. Slowly but surely the groups began to disperse, causing the area to become alive once again. The students walked up to different panels and began analyzing the missions available to them.

"Well, that wasn't really uplifting." Taiyang stated.

"It is the truth though." Raven answered.

"So what mission should we take?" Summer asked as she looked around and noticed segments of panels dimming. "We should probably decide soon as there are very little left."

"I'd like to go exploring." was the first suggestion stated by Taiyang.

"I for one would like to just watch over some grandma's house" Qrow waved his hand from his seat, half asleep

"Ignoring my brother," Raven cut in "I would like to do some research into the Grimm."

"Research? You can do that in the library!" Taiyang glanced over "Come on! We should go on an adventure! It's our first real tour as hunters and you want to study?!"

"The more we study about the Grimm, the better off we will be when we encounter them."

"This is why you'll always be number 2," Taiyang sighed "You can't always plan for the Grimm. They won't fit into your nice clean timetable. You have to learn to be flexible! Come on, live a little!"

"We'd have been dead many times over if we had just done things your way!" came the counter. "I swear, do you adventurous types ever think things through?!"

"He's right, you think too much." Qrow joined in.

"And you don't think at all!" Raven speared over.

"My headaches are coming back..." Summer massaged her temples. "Ok, enough." she stated. "We need to look around and decide what to do before...oh crap."

The four of them looked around the entire auditorium and noticed that literally all of the available missions were dimly lit, stating that they had already been claimed. On top of that, everyone else had already cleared out and headed back to their rooms to prepare.

"Wonderful..." a exasperated sigh escaped her lips "Now I gotta go talk to the headmaster and hope that we didn't just flunk our final exam."

"Way to go, Tai." Raven shook her head.

"Hey, you were part of this too!" he countered.

"Why don't you two just get married already?" Qrow called off from the side.

"Silence, you!" the two of them barked in unison.

"I'm leaving..." Summer shook her head and began walking to the door, leaving her argumentative team behind.

 **~xX*Xx~**

"Professor," Summer called from the other side of the door. "Are you there?"

"Come in." a voice answered.

The young girl sighed to herself momentarily before turning the handle and entering the headmaster's room.

"What can I do for you, Ms. Rose?" Professor Azuria looked up from her seat.

"Well, professor...my team was being...my team so-"

"Ah, so you were the ones unfortunate enough to not get an assignment." She pressed a button to her left which brought up a scrolling list of all the missions and teams doing them. "I see."

"Does this mean we flunked?" Worry began to form on Summer's face.

The professor sighed as she pondered the situation, her silence causing her student to squirm as the agonizing seconds passed. She reached over to the side and pressed a button. "Ozpin." she spoke into it. "Bring me case file #18-23-2-25." She leaned back in her chair "Sit."

"Thank you." she nodded and sat down as the door opened behind her, Ozpin carrying a single red folder with him.

"Summer," He stopped abruptly, obviously surprised. "What are you doing here?" He looked at the folder and then to the headmaster. "Oh," He turned back to Summer "So you're the team that didn't get any of the choices."

He continued to the desk and handed the file to its recipient. "What happened?"

"You know my team..."

"I see."

"Now then," Lylis interrupted. "This is case file 'Ruby'."

"Ruby?" Summer raised an eyebrow.

"R-W-B-Y" to be exact "Ozpin answered "The numbers correspond to its position in the alphabet."

"It's a small file I've been working on" the Headmaster continued "since the fall of Mountain Glenn."

"We'll take it!" Summer jumped up.

Lylis raised an eyebrow. "You have not even heard the details."

"Beggars can't be choosers" Summer replied, leaning forward on the table. "We'll take it."

"Very well..." Professor Azuria slid the case file forward. "I will give you more details in the morning."

She released the file before standing up. "Good luck...Summer Rose."

* * *

 _A/N: Well here it is! This was done as a request. I hope this start is up to your liking ^.^ I am so sorry I have been ghosting for quite a bit, but real life has been...well real life. I still don't know how far this is going to go, but I am trying my best to link it with the actual story as much as possible so it actually flows better. But hey improvements are always welcome! Hit the button below and let me know will ya? Thanks!  
_


	2. The First Step

_AN: Hey guys, thanks for all the PMs and stuff regarding the story. Please continue to send feedback. It helps a lot. On that note, lets get started~ ^.^  
_

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The First Step

June 7th Year 58.

 _I had little idea what was in store for us. I was even less confident that I could lead my team through this. I know I did say "We'll take it" but after reading the file that Professor Azuria gave me, I had gained more questions than answers as to what exactly she wanted us to do. On the surface it looked like a very basic "Smash and Grab"-go in, break up some Grimm, grab whatever it is we need to, get out. There was one detail, however, that kept bugging me. Throughout the 237 page report, she made notes on her thoughts, findings and even conclusions. All of them were logical and easily understood except for one symbol... Well, it looked more like a sigil of some sort. Its design was unlike anything I've ever seen before, but at the same time it did look familiar - like I had seen it only recently._ _I must be over thinking things, but its presence has made a distinct mark on my mind...I hope to get answers before we set off on our mission._

"Professor?" Summer knocked on the door to the Headmaster's room. "May I come in?"

"Hey," Ozpin answered the door. "The Headmaster stepped out for a moment, but she will return. I don't think she was expecting you so early though." He led her to the table and poured some coffee. "Here you go."

"Thank you." Summer took the cup as she sat down, her eyes wandering the office. "So how did you end up here?" she diverted her gaze to Ozpin as he fetched his own cup and sat down.

"Half of my team is sick so we aren't able to participate in the group exams." he smiled wryly "So we were given alternate individual tests instead. Since I had always stated that I wanted to one day shoot for the Headmaster's chair, I figured this would be a good place to start."

"So what exactly does your exam entail?" she took another sip before placing her mug on the table.

"That's just it," he shook his head "I have no idea - I mean, I am being tasked to do things here and there but I still don't quite see a purpose behind all of it. I'm not sure if I am even being graded to begin with." He sighed. "It is a little frustrating."

"What are the rest of your team doing?"

"Well, two of them are currently unavailable - one has the flu, and the other is healing from a accident during the last training mission. Glynda is watching over them while working at the nurse's office. And I," he stood up and began cleaning up the table as footsteps could be heard approaching the office "am here with the Headmaster." He picked up the last mug as the door opened.

"Welcome back." he greeted.

"Good morning." Lylis answered. She turned to the other student while approaching her desk. "You are early, Miss Rose. I take it you had a good read of the file I gave you?" She sat down and arranged the papers in front of her into a neat stack to her left, clearing the center of the table.

"I did," Summer approached and sat on the other side. "I also have some questions." She began to produce the file when she noticed the same symbol that had been bugging her all night on a picture hanging on the wall. "What is that?"

"I take it you mean the sigil." Professor Azuria answered without even turning to look.

"Yes." Summer opened the file in her hand and compared the symbol drawn on it with the image on the wall. "What does it mean?"

"Do you need me for anything else, Professor?" Ozpin took this chance to interrupt, thinking that his presence should probably not be in the room.

"No, stay." Lylis answered "Have a seat." she nodded.

"Thank you." Ozpin sat down.

"Tell me." the Headmaster looked at the two students. "What do you two know about the origin of Hunters?"

Ozpin spoke first.

"History books tell us that they were established at the end of the last great war." he responded "They were supposed to be a unifying force of Mankind and Faunus in order to combat the Grimm."

"That is correct." She stood up and opened a hologram behind her chair, taking the pose of an instructor teaching a class. "However, Hunters have existed long before the great war." She began cycling through archived pictures "You can say that they have existed since the dawn of our time, although they weren't called Hunters back then."

"What...?" Summer breathed out.

"At the beginning of our time" Lylis continued, "we learned to use Dust as a weapon to protect ourselves from the Grimm. Over time we learned to use their crystal forms to forge stronger, more powerful weapons - eventually making them a part of our everyday lives."

She cycled to a more modern image. "As mankind grew, there were people who distinguished themselves as ones who could manipulate Dust, forge them into true weapons, making them evermore efficient at destroying the Grimm. These were the first Hunters."

"That makes sense." Ozpin nodded "If Hunters were only very recent, then we as a people would not exist."

"At first, these Hunters passed on their skills and techniques to their bloodlines." she flipped to another image "As you know, people's Semblance vary from person to person, however some of them are hereditary. It is not too farfetched to see a child having a similar Semblance, or at least somewhat similar, to their parents or grandparents. As a matter of fact, some bloodlines still hold true to the ritual of passing down skills and techniques from generation to generation."

"What does this have to do with that emblem?" Summer questioned.

"About three hundred years ago," Azuria answered "Hunters were steadily growing in number. Though they were still only a minuscule percentage of the entire population, their power and use of their Aura, along with the help of Dust and crystals, set them apart from the rest of the people. As they began to realize their strength, many began to abuse them." The images shifted once again. "Hunters began to subjugate the people around them, their greed and lust for power driving them on. It was as if they had completely forgotten what they had attained all their powers for."

"That's terrible!" Summer gasped.

"Indeed." the professor frowned. "It was then that a group gathered together to form an organization -one based on preserving the peace, fighting the Grimm, and freeing the people from the oppression." She changed the image again "At that time, the people hated Hunters regardless of their allegiance or beliefs so this group knew that their only option was to work underground. They called themselves...the Σκιά."

"Σκιά?" Ozpin gave a quizzical look.

"It is pronounced 'skiá' and it means 'Shadow' in the ancient language." Lylis responded "The Σκιά, or 'Shadow Hunters' as outsiders would call them, needed a way to communicate as well as distinguish friend from foe at a glance. That," she pointed at the emblem in the picture "is why the sigil was created."

"What happened to them?" Summer looked down at the image on the report.

"They died." came the response "Or rather, they killed each other."

"What do you mean?!" Shock was plainly written on Summer's face.

"Ever since their creation, the Σκιά have sworn an oath to sever themselves from this world. They were to discard all worldly fame, fortune and pleasure to fully dedicate themselves to protecting the people from all the evils that stand against them." She changed the image one last time. "They became masters at tracking down their targets, they became efficient at silently dispatching their opponents. They were, in every sense of the word, 'Assassins'."

A brief pause was given to let the revelation settle into their minds. Then, she continued.

"During the last great war, they were split on what to do. As the group were made up of Humans and Faunus from all corners of the world, they could not come to an agreement on how to deal with the conflict. Eventually, they disbanded the organization and sided with like minds. As you know, the last great war was bloody, and a lot of sacrifices were made. What the world doesn't know, was that there was a far more deadly battle being fought out of sight. Leaders on both sides were more afraid of the Σκιά than the enemy army that stood before them, for while the armies could be seen coming from miles away, the Σκιά could have been anywhere."

She deactivated the hologram and sat back down in her seat. "My grandfather was one of them." she looked up at the picture "He fought and died as the rest of them did; believing that the path they chose was the correct one - for the sake of all Remnant."

Summer blinked. "Are you a Σκιά, Professor Azuria?"

"The four academies were created as a result of the great war, Beacon being the last one. They were created with the help of the last remaining Σκιά in an effort to properly nurture and train future youngsters to prevent history from repeating itself and to guide them to the right path. They were to train others as they were trained - to identify the signs, track down the enemy and maintain the peace -effectively calling them...'Hunters'."

She looked Summer in the eyes "I was a Σκιά." she answered "But during my years, I realized that my experience would be of a greater benefit to all the students that come through my classroom rather than just keeping it to myself. While it is a Hunter's job to protect the people, it was my last duty as a Σκιά...to protect the Hunters that follow in my footsteps."

The sound of the clock interrupted the following silence, stating that a considerable amount of time had passed.

"Well then" the Headmaster smiled "Now that I have bored you both to death with some history, it's time to get down to why I called you in here to begin with." she motioned towards the report. "I assume you've read it?"

"I have." Summer nodded, her visage becoming serious.

"Good. Mountain Glenn is in ruins. It was Vale's attempt at expansion some time ago, but as history has shown us, it did not succeed." She flipped through the pages of the report "People say that it was overrun by the Grimm - which indeed it was."

A beeping noise from Ozpin's scroll interrupted the conversation.

"I'm sorry," He stated as he glanced at the scroll. "It appears I am needed in the nurse's office." He stood up. "I'll see myself out."

Both women remained silent as Ozpin quietly stepped out of the room. He closed the door behind him with a gentle thud.

"Now, where was I?" Azuria regained her composure "Ah yes, the Grimm." she continued. "The Grimm eventually overran the city and now it stands to ruin. The kingdom sealed off all the tunnels that were created during the expansion when the subsystem collapsed and subterranean Grimm began pouring into the tunnels. Thousands of people were lost. Out of its entire population, not even 30% survived the evacuation attempt."

"That's horrible!"

"Now, as for the segments that have the emblem on it." she pointed. "There have been reports that there may be more survivors still living in the nearby caves."

"Is that possible?"

"It is currently unclear. That is why the knowledge has been kept from the general public." She frowned. "While the kingdom regrets not being able to do more to help the people, those that got left behind definitely see the move as a betrayal. I want you and your team to go investigate Quadrant 5 and confirm whether or not the rumors are true."

She closed the file. "If they **_are_** true, find a way to persuade the survivors to return to the city. If not, then look for any indication as to how the Grimm overran the city. Understand that if there are survivors, they will not be receptive to the idea of help from us, but it is your job as a Hunter to protect them - whether they want it or not."

"I do not think we are prepared for this" Summer shook her head "Surely there has to be more experienced people that could handle a mission of this level. I mean, we're still students!"

"Yes, you are students." the professor pulled up a small hologram that showed the team's profiles and status. "With the exception of a little academic work, your team is remarkably established. You have Taiyang Xiao Long." His profile moved forward "He is good at holding the front line, though he is a bit...eccentric sometimes, becoming the Vanguard the team needs. Next, you have the Branwen twins." Their profiles moved forward while Taiyang's reverted to its original position. "Raven is skilled with quick, precise strikes while her brother is mobile and accurate with his scythe. The two of them effectively make the perfect Wing Guards, able to protect the team from whatever enemies try to flank you as well as provide Taiyang with support. And then there is you, Summer Rose."

Her profile cycled forward and replaced the others "You stand in the center of the team. Your ability to manifest your aura is without equal. You can use it to shield your allies, enhance your Azoth dagger and even manifest it into powerful bursts of energy. You are the Center Guard, the one that provides support and direction for the rest of the team. You keep everyone together and are ultimately responsible for each of their lives."

Summer remained silent as the profiles closed, doubt still evident on her face.

"Do not worry." Azuria smiled. "Everyone has doubt and fear during their first real mission. What matters is that you trust your team, you trust your judgment, and you trust your training." She stood up and walked around the desk, putting a hand on Summer's shoulder as a sign of comfort. "Confidence comes with experience. Experience comes with the courage to take the first step." she began walking towards the exit. "Those that choose to take that step...are the ones who can truly call themselves 'Hunters'."

The young girl watched as the door closed behind her instructor. "The first step..." she repeated, pushing away her doubts and fears. "We won't let you down, Headmaster." she stood up and spoke in the direction of the door. "We won't let you down."

~xX*Xx~

"So what happened?" Raven asked as the team met their leader at the door of the dormitory "You were there quite a while." She moved aside to let her comrade pass, then shut the door. "Do you have our assignment?"

"Yes I do," Summer moved to a bed and sat down. "Our mission is to go to sector 5 and look for survivors."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa" Qrow stepped in. "Sector 5 is crawling with Grimm. Forget looking for survivors, how are _we_ going to survive out there?"

"Come on," Taiyang stated. "It will be fun! Besides, we're professionals!"

"Setting all that aside," Raven brushed their comments away "How do we know there are even survivors? I mean Qrow is right, that place is crawling with Grimm. Is there any chance at all that there might actually be people?"

"Sector 5 is the location of Mountain Glenn." Summer answered. "The Headmaster believes that there are people who survived the holocaust and managed to hide themselves in the deep caves around the area." She steeled her resolve "And it is our mission to bring them back."

"What if they don't want to come back?" Qrow spoke up "I mean the kingdom did literally just stab them in the back and leave them for dead."

"Regardless, it is our job to protect the people."

"Oh please..." he waved his hands "Most of us who become hunters these days do it for the fame, the fortune, the thrill of it. No one ever really does it to 'save the people'. Those guys are long gone."

"Irrelevant." Summer stood up in an effort to dispel any objections. "We are Hunters now."She looked at each of them in turn "This is what we signed up for. Its time we earned our keep."

"All right then." Qrow backed down "If you want to go off playing the Hero that's fine with me. But you have to be in this for the long haul. If we are going to do this, we can't bail out halfway through."

Raven and Taiyang nodded in agreement.

"You've done a fine job leading us so far, but this time other people's lives are potentially on the line. Are you sure you're up for this?"

"I am" Summer nodded. "I'm ready."

"So when do we leave?" Raven asked, opening up her scroll to make a list of supplies.

"We can leave as early as tomorrow. I don't know how long this mission will take, but we should at least plan on taking up the entire week allotted to us." She looked at her crew "Tai, go secure our rations and you'd better not be sneaking random snacks in."

"You know me" he smiled.

"That's what I'm worried about." she joked. "Raven, look over the maps and send the info to Tai so he can prep our gear accordingly. Who knows what kind of terrain we are dealing with out there."

"On it." She nodded.

"Qrow," Summer looked at the last member of her team. "Do some forward recon and let us know what kind of enemy strength we're expecting. I would like to keep the number of surprises to a minimum."

"You got it."

"Now, my task will be...hmm. What do you guys want for dinner?"

"Chicken!"

"Pasta!"

"Curry!"

The answers came in unison, causing Summer to sigh and hold her head as the three others argued about when they had eaten the last stated meals. It came as a comfort to her that, even though they were going to embark on their first dangerous mission, none of them showed the slightest change in character. _"Trust your team, you trust your judgment and that you trust your training. "_ the words of the Headmaster echoed in her mind as she sighed slightly and watched over her team.

~xX*Xx~

"How are the preparations going?" Summer asked as she entered the storage area.

"Well, considering we have a lot of mountains and odd terrain we will most likely be covering, I thought we should stick to the more basic gear." Taiyang replied. "Food and water being our main necessities while rope and medical supplies being secondary. Oh, and snacks being third."

"Adventuring life for the win huh?" she chuckled

"You know it~" he gave her the thumbs up and went back to his work.

"What do you think about this mission?" she asked while sitting down and leaning against the wall.

"I try not to." he answered without stopping or looking back "To me it's an adventure. I would like to get caught up in as many crazy things as possible while doing it." he laughed "I know that is counterintuitive to the rest of the guys but that's how I like living my life."

"Hahahaha." Summer pulled her hood back "And it is exactly that attitude that gets Raven all riled up." she sighed "She likes to have her life in order, you like to live on the edge - If I were a matchmaker I would say you two are perfect for each other."

"I don't know about that." He took a break and sat down as well. "She is fun to be around and even more fun to tease, but as a partner?" he laughed "I bet after a year or so, she'd run off on her own to try to get her life together after being stuck with my randomness all the time."

"Well, you'll find someone who can handle your level of weirdness so don't worry too much about it."

"You know, if you didn't have such a dark side I bet the guys would be clamoring all over you." he joked and tossed her an apple.

"I do _not_ have a dark side!" she stated and threw the apple back. "Why does everyone keep saying that?!"

"Umm..." Taiyang pondered in an exaggerated manner "How about the time that bully ran into you near the field? Remember? The one that was picking on that Faunus and knocked over your books when you passed by?"

"I was having a bad day, alright?"

"Yeah but you didn't have to detonate half the courtyard."

"He was being mean and yelling and I had a headache!"

"So your first response was to summon up your aura and into a ball of lightning and throw it into the ground." he stated in a teasing tone and nodded his head as if affirming the action. "Very mature of you."

"Auugh!" she pick up a nearby apple and threw it at him "Now I know how Raven feels."

"Hahaha." Taiyang caught the apple "Oh come on," he wiped the apple on his shirt and took a bite "you know I'm just teasing you." he tossed it back to her.

"That's what makes it even worse..." she caught the apple and began eating it. "Anyway, I'll let you get back to packing." She stood up and went to the door. "We may be out there for several days so, we're counting on you."

Taiyang nodded in response as he watched her head out the door before getting back to work.

~xX*Xx~

"So what's new?" Summer walked into the corner of the library where Raven was leaning over numerous maps and books, the afternoon light giving the area an 'Old Relic' type of feel.

"I'm trying to get as much data as I can on the infrastructure of Mountain Glenn." Raven responded while handing her friend an open can of orange juice "Afterwards, I am going to check out the maps of the surrounding areas."

"Anything worth noting so far?" Summer took a sip before moving across the table and analyzing the open maps.

"Well, there are a lot of things in Mountain Glenn that could have helped people who were desperate enough to survive. However I am more interested in the mountain regions."

"What about them?" Summer leaned closer.

"You see," Raven pointed "looking at the original plans, there are a lot of tunnels and caves - in fact they stretch for miles on end. It would literally take us months to maybe even years to search through all these locations."

"So you're saying it's possible that there may be survivors?"

"Yes." came the nod "But if they didn't want to be found, we probably wouldn't find them."

"That is not encouraging..." the leader sighed.

"Also, there are subterranean Grimm," the red-eyed girl continued "So some of these paths could have been created by them." She pulled up another map. "So there is literally no telling which way to even start looking."

"Well the Headmaster said that the reports have been coming from the West, away from the city."

"The west..." Raven pulled another map over "Ugh that looks even worse - I mean look at all these caves! Who knows how deep the caverns go! Not to mention these are just the ones explorers have plotted!"

"Well I never really expected this to be an easy job." Summer took another sip of the orange juice can before handing it over.

"I hope you guys are in for a long trip." Raven took the can and drank the rest of it "I better get these findings over to Tai. We need to make sure we've got enough essentials at least."

"Personal opinion, Raven" the silver-eyed girl leaned against the table "Think we'll find anyone? Much less actually pull this off?"

"Getting cold feet now?" she joked. "It's ok, if nothing else your dark side will carry you through this, Hahaha."

"What is wrong with you people?!" Summer raised her voice, drawing the attention of other people in the library. "Sorry" she smiled sheepishly as embarrassment took hold. "I do not have a dark side!" she declared in a stern whisper.

"Ooh scary." Raven feigned fear, causing the other girl to glare "But seriously, you are pretty scary when you're angry."

"And why do you think I get angry all the time?"

"Hahaha!" came an amused laugh "Oh it's ok." Raven reached over and hugged Summer like a mother would, gently stroking the other's hair. Summer groaned.

"I swear, I will die before any of you guys...and you will be the cause." She eventually broke free.

"Well, I'm taking this info to Tai." Raven gathered up her papers and notes "Do me a favor and put all this stuff away would you? Thanks." She waved and walked off.

"Wait, WHAT?!" Summer stood there dumbfounded as Raven walked out of sight "Darn it." she sighed "She got me again..."

~xX*Xx~

It was already evening by the time Summer had finished cleaning up the mess Raven had left her in the library. She found herself with stiff shoulders and a rather dull sense of accomplishment. The clock tower struck seven, reminding the girl that she needed to head over to Beacon cliffs in order to meet the last of her team.

Sure enough, Qrow was there laying on the ground watching the sky next to a small fire, a piece of grass in his mouth.

"Hey, you made it." he greeted "Was starting to think you got killed or something."

"Your sister almost did." She sat down on the other side of the fire. "I had to clean up the entire library." She pulled her hood back.

"Well that sucks" he spat the reed out and sat up "At least you weren't too late showing up here."

"So what did you find out?"she pulled out an apple she got from the storage area earlier and tossed it over to him.

"Well, it is not pretty out there." he caught the apple and responded before taking a bite. "There are a lot of Grimm packs out there. Who knows how many more are subterranean, it will be a fight just to get there by land."

"So you suggest we get dropped off instead?"

"As far from the ruins as possible" he nodded "and closer to the actual mountains. That way we can bypass some of the larger packs."

"There aren't that many landing sites out there according to the maps that Raven had out." she frowned "We might end up having to do some hiking after drop-off."

"Hey, that's fine as long as you are still up for this." he leaned back down "Just don't be changing your mind at the last minute."

"You still think we can do this?" She asked, a bit of worry betrayed in her tone.

"Yeah, we can do this." he responded without even thinking "We've been training much of our lives and all our time here for things like this."

"You're right," Summer smiled as she stood up and stretched her body. "I am just overcomplicating things I guess."

"Everyone gets worried." He looked up at her "Just some people are better at hiding it than others."

"Qrow..." she turned her back "Do I really have a dark side?"

"Of course you do" came the immediate response.

"QROW!" she spun around, half whining.

"Not what I meant." he sat back up and looked her in the eyes "Everyone has a dark side." he continued "We just joke about yours because you're too nice. You worry about the rest of the team like a mom does for kids."

He yawned and lay back down. "Yeah, you've got a dark side." He stated after a brief moment "And its pretty damn scary."

"I give up." Summer shrugged her shoulders before slowly heading back to the dormitory. "You best come back soon. Dinner will be ready in a little bit."

"Got it." He waved his hand in the air without even looking at her as she continued to walk away.

~xX*Xx~

"Now then..." Summer wiped her brow as she took a step back to look at her accomplishment. Arrayed before her was a table full of food - namely chicken, curry, and pasta. She had pulled out her scroll to call the team together when the door suddenly opened and said team walked in, their conversation stopped by the sight of the food.

"Whoa" Qrow stated..

"All right!" Taiyang cheered

"This is unexpected..." Raven's eyes widened.

"Enjoy it." Summer urged the team inside "This is going to be the last good meal you're going to have in a while."

"What, you aren't going to bake cookies out there?" Taiyang pulled up a chair.

"Hmm..." Summer pondered "Maybe I should take away some-"

"I'm kidding! I'm _KIDDING!_ " he sweatdropped.

"Well, let's eat!" Raven raised her glass, the others following shortly afterwards.

The sound of clinking glass heralded the official start of the meal as random chatter filled the room and dishes were passed around the table.

"By the way, Qrow" Summer asked as she passed a bowl of mashed potatoes over to Taiyang "Whatever happened to that girl? You know, the first year?"

"What are you talking about?" Qrow responded after choking on his drink momentarily "What first year?"

"What was her name? That Schnee girl I think it was..."

"Ah, Winter Schnee." Raven answered "So I take it that she is your type?"

"Hardly," he cleared his throat some more "I just saw her giving a Faunus a hard time over something trivial so I told her to quit being such an Ice Queen."

"Good work there, Romeo" Taiyang joined in. "Real smooth."

"Hey, she wants me." Qrow winked. "She just doesn't know it yet."

"You say that about every girl." Raven shook her head.

"What can I say? The girls are just attracted to my manliness."

"Hahahahaha!" Summer tried her best to control herself "Ok, ok. I'm sorry I asked, hahaha." She calmed herself down eventually "Anyway, are all of you ready for tomorrow?" she looked around the room, getting affirmation nods all around. "You guys best get to sleep early tonight. We're going to have one hell of a trip starting tomorrow."

"What are you going to do?" Raven asked after downing a drink.

"I want to go over the data one more time before I sleep." she answered. "It's a lot to process all at once." she stood up and began cleaning up her plates. "Let me know when you guys are done, I'll start washing the dishes."

"Hold up!" Taiyang downed his drink "I'll help. I can't have you setting out the food and cleaning up after it too."

"Aww how sweet." Raven teased

"Shut up" Taiyang glared as he grabbed the stack of empty plates Summer was carrying. "Why don't you help out too, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah" she smirked and picked up her plate along with some empty glasses. "Come on, Qrow"

"You guys go on ahead." He leaned back in his chair.

" _QROW!"_ His sister yelled.

"All right all right." He got up and picked up his dishes "We won't all fit in the kitchen so I'll just hand over the plates."

"Ok old man" Summer called from the kitchen

"I'm not old!" he yelled back, while carrying several cups in his hand.

~xX*Xx~

"Are you all ready?" Professor Azuria stood before them.

"Yes" Summer looked over her shoulder at her team. "We are."

"You are no longer students" the Headmaster looked them all in the eye. "You are now professional Hunters. This mission I give you is the most dangerous one I could offer - and also the most important one." Her eyes narrowed. "Understand that you will not have any support on this mission. You will be entirely on your own. If you are compromised, we will disavow any knowledge of your existence."

The team's eyes were wide open in shock.

"I'm joking." She smiled as the tension broke. "But in all seriousness, I have much hope for you all." she lowered her head slightly as the wind picked up due to the arrival of their airship transport. "Even if you all still have a long way to go," she stepped aside, allowing the team to walk past her towards their ship. "Your potential as youngsters may change the world someday."

The team spun around to give one last farewell.

"...But only if you keep learning... If you never stop moving forward."

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you Monty Oum. You always said that your work and dreams should be something that transcends you. I hope you're seeing it, because your work really has grown. Well, thanks again for reading! Like it? Hate it? Leave your thoughts and comments below and let me know will ya? Thanks!  
_


	3. Mountain Glenn

Mountain Glenn

A certain blond girl lazed outdoors in the sunshine, drifting in and out of sleep. She barely noticed the small corgi approaching until it was almost on top of her.

"Hey Zwei," Yang greeted the dog as it trotted up to her makeshift hammock. "What's up?"

The Corgi barked several times while jumping around in an attempt to deliver his message.

"Hmm? Ruby is looking for me?" she sat up and stretched her arms over her head in a big yawn.

A single bark came as the confirmation response.

"Well," she hopped off the hammock "lead the way!"

The two navigated throughout the area, into the house and up the stairs. The stuffy air assailed their senses the moment they opened the latch, causing Zwei to flinch before retreating downstairs.

"Ruby?"

"Yang!" the hooded girl closed the book she was reading and walked over to greet her sister. "Where have you been?! Dad told us to clean up the attic!"

"Looks like you haven't made much progress..." Yang looked around while trying to adjust to the air.

"Why do you think that is?" Ruby's eyes narrowed.

"Is there anything interesting up here at least?"

"Well there's books..."

"Laaaame~" Yang sighed as she walked over to a corner and started sifting through all the items.

" _One_ of those books happens to be Mom's diary from when she went to school at Beacon."

"Oh?" Yang's ears perked up. "There any dirty little secrets in there? Or any awesome adventures?"

"I'm not so sure about the first one," Ruby scowled at Yang "But it looks like she was having a heck of a time and it seems like she was in the same team as dad and uncle Qrow."

"Lemme read it!"

"NO!" The younger sister pulled the book away and put it behind her back "I won't let you get away with slacking off any more." she smiled "But I will read it off to you while you help me clean, ok?"

"Fine," Yang sighed in defeat "Where do we start?"

"Start by moving all those boxes over there." Ruby pointed towards the South area "I'll start piling these books here."

"You got it."

Ruby put the diary back on the desk and opened it to the page she left off at. "Ok here is what the next entry says."

 _June 12th year 58._

 _We have been out here for days now and still there has been no sign of people. We have spent most of our time navigating around the mountains and fighting off horde after horde of Grimm. We are still good on supplies, however we will only be able to last a couple more days before we are forced to retreat. We've decided to finally begin looking inside the caves, but if our battles out here were any indication...we're in for one hell of a time. I can still remember the last thing Professor Azuria told me about the actual mission. She said that she believes the Grimm were not the only thing that caused the destruction of the city, that there was another force that may have been responsible. I certainly hope she is wrong, because humanity has enough trouble handling its problems._

"You're up early." Raven rolled over in her sleeping bag "Or were you on watch?" she stifled a yawn.

"A little bit of both actually." Summer put her book away and stretched her body "I got to sleep uninterrupted last night, so I figured I'd give you guys a bit more time." She looked over at the other two. "From the looks of it, they need it." She prodded the campfire a bit, adjusting the wood. "We still got a bit of time before we need to get up. Why don't you go back to sleep?"

"Ok then..." the red-eyed girl rolled over "See you in a little bit."

Summer smiled and grabbed her dagger, walking a small distance away from the camp to where she would not disturb the others. She stood out facing the valley and held the dagger out in front of her with both hands as if it were a sword and she began to concentrate her aura. A white rose emblem formed at her feet and continue to grow in size as she focused her power.

" _Remember, Summer"_ her mother's voice echoing through her mind " _Your ability is only as strong as the will you put behind it."_ Her cloak began to glow brighter and brighter as more and more power gathered around her.

" _With it, you will be able to do great and terrible things; be it protect your friends...or slay your enemies."_ Particles of energy materialized around her hands, forming a transparent extension of both the handle and the blade of the dagger until it became the proper dimensions of a formidable double-edged sword. " _So never forget to keep your heart pure, wear this cloak around you as a reminder of this and always be on guard."_

"Doing some morning training?" Taiyang walked up but stopped just outside the massive rose emblem on the ground, his instincts telling him not to draw any closer to the wall of energy.

"Tai." the girl released her concentration and with it all the energy she gathered. "Yeah I just wanted to get it knocked out of the way. It's a habit you know?" she replaced her dagger on the left side of her hip. "What are you doing up?"

"I don't think any normal person can sleep with that kind of energy emanating nearby," he joked "Then again I think the twins are just so used to it, that they can sleep through an explosion."

"Funny," the girl laughed as she sat down on a rock and looked out into the valley. "It's sad isn't it?"

"What is?" he sat down on the other side so they were sitting back to back.

"This view." she looked around "You'd never get this kind of view in the kingdoms." She took a deep breath "The air here is so fresh and untainted, it makes me understand why people wanted to try making a life out here." She leaned back some more.

"Unfortunately there are several challenges, the biggest of which being the Grimm."

"I know but..." she sighed as she turned her gaze upwards to the clouds. "Wouldn't it be nice if other people _could_ see all this?"

"No, I totally agree with you." he nodded "If I ever have kids, I'd like them to be able to see a place like this."

"Ha ha ha! You have to find someone to have kids with first!" she joked

"You proposing?"

"Isn't it the man's job to do that?"

"Fair enough," he pushed back lightly to let her know he was standing up and walked around to the other side of the rock and knelt before her "Summer Rose..." he started "Will you-"

The snapping of a tree branch interrupted the scene, causing the two to turn their attention towards the poorly hidden twins.

"I told you not to move!" Raven threw her hands in the air "It was going so well!"

"If you weren't leaning on me so much I wouldn't have needed to adjust my stance!" Qrow replied.

"Are you calling me fat?!"

"No, I'm just stating that you might want to check your weight."

"Why you-!"

Summer and Taiyang laughed at the ensuing chaos while the twins battled it out in a giant dustball.

"Ok you guys," Summer stood up "let's go have breakfast." She beckoned over to the rest of the team "We have a long day ahead of us."

The twins had just about finished their fight, with neither one emerging as the victor.

"On second thought," Summer spun around. "Why don't we all take a picture together?" she placed her scroll on a nearby rock "To commemorate our first official mission as Hunters."

"Do we have to?" Qrow whined.

"Get over here!" Raven dragged her brother by the collar.

"All set?" Taiyang leaned against a nearby tree.

"Here we go, in 3..." Summer stated as her scroll began to flash, indicating that the timer had started. She leaned on the opposite side of the tree Taiyang was on while the Branwen twins poised their weapons.

"Ack! My soul!" Qrow gripped his chest while staggering.

"Oh quit your whining" Raven smacked him on the back. "Come on. Breakfast."

Summer walked over and picked up her scroll. "I think it turned out great." She nodded in satisfaction. "I'll send you guys a copy after we eat ok?"

~xX*Xx~

"..." Raven signaled quietly to her brother as she crept up to the mouth of a cave.

Qrow nodded as he prepared his weapon.

A pack of Beowolves were gathered and seemed to be searching the area for no particular reason. Despite what was known of these creatures, one could only fathom what the Grimm actually do in their spare time. Unfortunately, it is rather hard to study them as they are rather volatile when alive and disperse into dust almost immediately when dead.

Once the two were in position, Raven gave the signal for the start of the attack.

"Wooohoooo!" Taiyang yelled at the top of his lungs as he dashed forward straight towards the mouth of the cave.

The pack of Grimm were thrown into disarray momentarily by the sudden outburst, but quickly recovered and began charging towards the lone hunter.

Taiyang grinned as he picked up speed and plowed right into the mass of Grimm, the Beowolves dispersing every which direction from the impact.

Raven and Qrow leapt from the sides and, with surgical precision, began a combination blade dance covering each other's blind spots and systematically dispatching all enemies within range. Raven sheathed her sword and activated her blade roulette, equipping a blue dust blade. With incredible speed, she drew the blade in a very large arch, effectively slicing several Grimm in half and sending a water-type shockwave forward. Qrow leaped into the air to avoid the incoming shockwave while transforming his weapon into its true form. He spun on his axis to gain momentum, turning the scythe into a massive spinning blade as he plummeted to the ground, cleaving enemies apart upon impact.

"And we're done!" Taiyang announced as he destroyed the last remaining enemy. "Everyone ok?" he called out

"Yeah." Qrow answered "I got 9."

"I got 12 here" Raven snapped her sword to get rid of any dirt and debris before replacing her weapon.

"Ha!" Taiyang smiled "I got 13" he teased.

"Grrrr..." Raven grit her teeth.

"Looks like we're done here." Summer approached them all from behind. "Shall we have a look?"

"Where did you go?" Raven tilted her head.

"Hmm? Oh I just dispatched the six Ursa that came to check out what all the noise was." she spun the dagger in her hand several times before replacing it on her hip. "Shall we?" she continued walking past her teammates and towards the mouth of the cave. "This is a good place to start."

"Six Ursa." Taiyang followed closely "Really."

"Yeah."

"You mean six _baby_ Ursa" Raven joined in as the entered the cave.

"They were fully grown!"

"Fully grown _babies_ you mean!" Qrow finished her off.

"Ugh, you guys are insufferable!" Summer threw her hands in the air as her team laughed at her. "Come on, let's go!"

The mouth of the cave was a rather small opening - allowing only four to five people to comfortably walk side by side. At the end of a rather good distance, the area opened up into a large cavern with beams of light coming through the cracks. The sound of rushing water could be heard along with the gushing of the nearby waterfall, the water then separating into twenty different streams.

"Wow." Raven spoke first. "This place is amazing."

"You bet." Taiyang walked up to the stream "I could live here- I mean look" he dipped his hand into the water and tested it "It's fresh water and there's fish swimming around." He attempted to catch one but to no avail. "The only thing missing here really is people."

"This does look like a good place to hole up in." Summer stated "So why wouldn't the people hold their ground here?"

"It looks defensible enough" Qrow jumped on a higher rock to get a better look around "For better or worse, chokepoints are the only way in and out of this place."

"If you don't count the big gaping waterfall down there." she peered close to the edge "Think it's survivable?"

Raven took out a fire crystal and threw it over the side. A small visible flame erupting a few moments later.

"Probably, yes" Taiyang nodded "We have no idea if there are sharp rocks or anything own there so I would say its probable, but I wouldn't want to jump unless I had no other choice."

"Yeah but this is still a good spot." Summer continued looking around "We aren't going to get any answers standing around here. Let's split up and search the area." she nodded to the team "But don't wander off too far."

~xX*Xx~

"Any luck so far?" Summer approached Raven who chose to head towards the Northwest area.

"Nothing major" she responded "however there is something of interest here"

"Oh?" Summer pulled her hood back and leaned in close. "What is it?"

"Dust crystals" came the response. "Small fragments, yeah, but there are a lot of them" she scooped up some dirt "Look."

"That might be part of the reason why people didn't stay here" the leader looked around at the general area "You would have to be somewhat careful here with aura and elemental abilities." She tapped a red crystal fragment and ignited it, causing a small chain reaction "A large enough detonation or series of detonations could cause parts of the cave to collapse."

"That would make a good defensive strategy, don't you think?"

"True, but only if you could precisely set everything." Summer kicked the loose crystal at her feet "As it stands right now, this place would need a lot of work to make it structurally sound."

"But enough about that." Raven turned around and sat down "How's it going with Tai?"

"What are you talking about?" Summer sat down next to the other girl.

"Oh don't give me that." she grinned "He was totally proposing to you earlier!"

"What, you jealous?"

"Of course not!" the red-eyed girl elbowed her friend "It was just unexpected that's all."

"Ha ha ha. Oh come on. They do say that couples who fight the most, love each other the most." She looked over "And everyone knows that you two fight the most"

"The day I marry that guy is the day something incredibly drastic happens."

"Yeah," Summer stood up "You'd be marrying him." She stuck her tongue out.

"I told you it's not like that!" Raven yelled as Summer walked away "And don't be giving the others any weird ideas either!"

~xX*Xx~

"Yo," Qrow greeted as Summer walked up. "What's on your mind?" He stopped what he was doing and sat down while giving her a quizzical look.

"What do you think of teammates dating each other?" The girl sat down on a nearby rock.

"What, you finally falling for me?"

"No. Sorry" she laughed "I am just thinking that Raven and Tai would make a good unit."

"Oh please, you know I would totally rock it."

"Yes, just like you 'totally rocked it' with that Faunus 3rd year student when we first entered- what was her name again? Scarlatina I think it was?"

"Ah, Violet Scarlatina" Qrow mused "She was feisty, that one."

"Didn't she totally deck you when you made a horrible pass at her?"

"She was just embarrassed. A total tsundere if you ask me."

"And that explains why she decked you?" Summer tried to contain herself "In front of the entire morning assembly?"

"Like I said, she was just embarrassed."

"Right."

"But anyway" Qrow shifted his stance "What about those two?"

"I don't know. I think they just click"

"Seriously...those two?" he laughed "The only way those two will ever get together is through a near-death experience." He shook his head "Trust me on this one."

"Wow, you seem absolutely certain about this." Summer looked amused.

"I've known you guys for years now," he crossed his arms "and I've known my sister even longer. There is no way in Remnant those two are getting together unless something drastic pushed them."

"Are you sure you aren't just being jealous that your sister might beat you into a relationship?" She chuckled

"With my interpersonal skills and rugged charms, I could get any girl I wanted easily." He tossed her an apple.

"Really." She caught the fruit and took a bite.

"The only reason I haven't tried to get you is that you are too old and you act like my mother."

"Hey!" she flung the apple back at him with deadly accuracy.

"In any case-"

"Don't try to change the subject!" she narrowed her eyes.

"Hey, guys" Taiyang walked up "I'm getting kinda thirsty."

"Yeah, me too" Qrow nodded. "Is the river safe to drink?"

"It should be fine" Summer answered.

"Well, _water_ we waiting for?" Tai pointed his thumb in the direction of the river.

Summer and Qrow just stared blankly.

"Get it? Guys?"

"Grab him!" Summer commanded as she made a sharp dash towards Taiyang.

"Whoa!" He dodged to the side.

"That was just horrible..." Qrow sat down as he watched the two run off.

~xX*Xx~

"Hmmm." Raven pondered as she looked at the small group of crystals before her. "This should be enough for the next few days..."

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" a loud voice echoed from behind.

Raven spun around to see Taiyang with a large grin on his face as he maintained a small distance ahead of what appeared to be a trail of white rose petals. She watched as the two ran in a circle several times before crashing in front of her, causing a large dust cloud.

"Umm, what are you two doing?"

"Raven!" Summer stated while struggling to hold Taiyang down "Help me here! We have to fix him!"

"I know he's broken in some places" Raven tilted her head and continued watching "But fix him how, specifically?"

"I think-guh! He's got...stop moving!" she adjusted her weight "That wienerschnitzel disease!"

"The what?"

"That disease that-rrrgh! Makes you say stupidly lame jokes!" She started beating him on the head.

"Oh!" the lightbulb lit up over Raven's head "the Witzelsucht. That is a mental disorder that's caused by exactly what you are doing now." she pointed, "Trauma to the brain." she looked on, amused. "As much as I enjoy seeing you finally _beating some sense into him_ , I would suggest you stop or else you'll make the condition worse- if he even has it in the first place."

Summer released a heavy sigh as she finally let him go. "I know he does it all the time, but its been getting horrendous lately..."

"Jeez," Taiyang dusted himself off "With you around we won't need to find shelter."

Raven looked at him quizzically while Summer turned around to head to the river.

"You people are just _two tents._ " he looked over his shoulder, half hoping that Summer didn't hear it.

Raven, on the other hand, did her best to control her laughter, knowing that if she started laughing, she might incur the Wrath of the Rose.

"You know you liked it." Taiyang leaned in and whispered.

"Shut up you!" Raven whispered back "She's going to stab us if she hears this."

"Yeah I know she'll make sure we _get the point_ of it."

"Tai!"

"Come on you two!" Summer called. "We still have to set up camp."

"You're lucky she didn't hear us," Raven's eyes narrowed. "What happened to you anyway?" She started walking back "Your jokes have gotten lamer and more frequent."

Taiyang caught up to her and shrugged.

"If I didn't know any better, you really did get that disorder."

"Well it wouldn't be my fault if I had it."

"You two are getting along nicely." Qrow jumped in as he passed by with a small pile of wood in his arms.

"We're comrades who just survived a grenade blast" Taiyang sighed.

"Why is she so stressed out anyway?" Raven asked before giving Taiyang a dull glare. "You're not the father are you?"

"What?!" he jumped back a few feet "Are you nuts?!" he stormed back over "What you are implying is tantamount to suicide!"

"Well, what else could it be?"

"Come on you guys!" Summer sighed as she struggled to start a fire "We still need to get our food ready!"

"Maybe its because you two are slacking off" Qrow grinned.

The two simultaneously opened their mouths to counter but they had no comeback.

"Yeah. Thats what I thought" he shook his head slightly before heading back.

"This is totally your fault" Raven poked Taiyang in the chest before running over to Summer's side.

"What the heck did I do?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"Here," Raven tossed Summer a fire crystal "This should do it."

"Thanks." Summer ignited the crystal with her aura and watched as it shattered into dust and released a small thermal energy pocket.

"The section over there has an unusually large amount of crystals." She put her bag down and opened it. "I am starting to wonder if this was the location of an old mining expedition."

"I wonder why it was abandoned then."

"My area over there had some metallic objects." Qrow answered "Look" he pointed towards the area Taiyang was currently looking around at. "That area there is filled with scrap metal. I even found this" he brought up a part that looked like it once had a logo on it.

"What's that say?" Raven looked it over "Mer...mer-what?"

"I don't know," her brother responded "but at least we know that this place once had people working here. Still I don't like how this place looks. Gives the vibe that it could collapse at any time."

"So you're saying we are camping out in an area where we could easily get buried in if something goes wrong?" Summer raised an eyebrow.

"Well we do have one escape route."

"That is?"

"The waterfall." Raven sighed "As much as I hate to admit it, if this place started crumbling we'd have no choice but to jump and hope our auras can take whatever beating we're going to get on the way down."

"Great!" the leader threw her hands up "All we need now is for Tai to get his adventurer curiosity into full gear and get us in some kind of trouble...like always."

"Hey guys! Check this out!" Taiyang called over.

"Right on cue."

~xX*Xx~

"This tunnel looks man-made" Raven noted as the team progressed through.

"There's more of that strange machinery lying around too," Qrow picked up a small piece of metal "It has the same logo as all the other parts."

"It seems to be opening up ahead." Taiyang urged them on ahead. "Whoa!" he shifted his stance a bit as the entire mountain rumbled lightly. "Earthquake?"

"That is very common around this area," She pulled out a map and noted their location "We are near a fault line, that's why."

Summer raised her dagger over her head and focused her aura, generating a ball of light to illuminate the area.

"What does that say up there?" Qrow looked ahead at a large machine that seemed somewhat intact.

"It says 'Merlot Industries'." Summer read it off "It looks rather old, too."

"Here we go" Raven opened a panel and looked inside "This should do it." she stated as she pulled a fire crystal out of her bag and placed it inside the machine. The unit whirred to life as it turned on, powering nearby lamps and illuminating the small cavern.

Taiyang whistled in awe. "This was one heck of a mining operation alright..."

"Well there obviously is no one around," Qrow picked up another part. "I say we go back."

"Agreed," Summer looked the area over "this place looks even less stable than the area we made camp at." She knelt down as another tremor shook the area. "We should leave. Now."

"Yeah, lemme just get this useful- whoa!" Taiyang began to lose his balance as he tried to move.

"Quit moving around you idiot!" Raven reached out and grabbed his hand in an attempt to stabilize him. Unfortunately, the weight difference between them countered her effort and the two of them slammed into the generator, causing the fire crystal inside to destabilize.

"Watch it!" Qrow called out as the two rolled out of the way of the exploding unit.

The cave began to collapse as boulders fell from above. The combination of the explosion and the ongoing tremor caused a cave-in, surrounding the team and burying them under tons of rock. The tremors lasted for nearly a full minute before finally settling down, dirt and debris scattered everywhere and all light was extinguished.

"Ow..." Raven slowly opened her eyes and tried to adjust to the darkness. Her head was throbbing and it was so dark that she started to believe that she was blinded. "Guys?" she called out "You ok?"

"Geh," Taiyang responded form somewhere nearby "I'm alive!" he pushed himself up to his arms and knees "I cant see a thing!" he gasped "Oh no! I'm blind!"

"It's pitch black, you idiot." Qrow responded with a groan "Anyone have a crystal?"

"I got it." Raven shifted her body and reached into her bag, pulling out a small fire crystal. "Where's Summer?" she asked while igniting it.

As their eyes adjusted to the small flame, they scanned the area and noted that they were covered by rocks and boulders. After a brief search, they found their target. Summer Rose was on one knee with her arms outstretched, her teeth grit together and beads of sweat forming and falling from her face.

"Summer!" she called out and forced herself to her feet "Are you-" she cut herself off as she trudged over when she noticed a small reflection behind the unresponsive girl. "A barrier!"

A thin transparent dome separated the team from utter death, held together by the sheer concentration and will of the girl in the middle of it.

"Hey you ok?" Taiyang reached over.

"Don't touch her!" Raven yelled "The barrier that's keeping us alive is made up of her aura. If she loses concentration now, we'll all get killed."

Summer let out a small gasp as the strain on her mind and body slowly ate away at her stamina, her arms faltering momentarily causing the barrier to shift a little.

"We gotta get out of here and fast" Qrow joined up with the other two. "She wont last much longer."

"Can we blast our way out?" Taiyang walked over in the direction of the tunnel

"Not without damaging the barrier" Raven responded. "We could try going down?"

"Not a good idea" Qrow answered "We could just cause a larger problem to fall on top of us even if we managed to do it."

"Then what do we do?"

"Talk about being _between a rock and a hard place_." Taiyang scratched his chin.

"Tai!" Raven stormed over "This isn't the time for jokes!" She got in his face.

"This is exactly the time!" Taiyang pulled the red-eyed girl in an embrace and whispered directly into her ear.

"What are you saying?" she whispered back before her eyes widened "You're kidding!"

"I think it's our only shot right now."

"That is suicide!" she whispered sternly

"So is getting buried here" he pulled away a little bit "Look, if she uses her 'darkside', she could just blast away all this rock."

"And us with it."

"What other choice do we have?"

"Hey, lovebirds" Qrow called over "I know the situation is bad, but seeing you two make out isn't the last memory I want to have."

"Damn it." Raven cursed under her breath before steeling her resolve. "See Tai?!" she spoke aloud "Now even Qrow is thinking weird things about us!"

"It's not my fault you came up insanely close! What, were you planning on stealing a kiss before we died?" Taiyang countered

"Who the hell would want to kiss _you?!_ I wouldn't do it even if you were the last man alive!"

"You're just being tsundere again."

"What the heck does that even mean?!"

"You...guys..." Summer stated between grit teeth as dark violet rings began to form around her torso.

"Its working" Taiyang whispered.

"Great! Now you've made Summer angry." Raven threw her arms in the air "Way to go Tai!"

"Would you two stop bickering?!" Qrow advanced once he understood what was happening. "It is not like we're in a life or death situation here."

"No, I think this is the _perfect_ time to settle things!" Raven countered as she turned her attention back to Taiyang.

"I agree" he nodded "I've been waiting _Xiao Long_ for this moment." He tried to keep a serious face but could not contain his grin.

The twins stared at him with despondent faces.

"That was so lame..." Raven held her head.

"Rrrghh!" Summer grunted as she struggled to force her body to stand, the dark rings around her body slowly starting to converge.

"Get ready!" Qrow stated.

"Rhaaaaaa!" the girl yelled as she released another massive wall of energy in all directions.

"Here it comes!" Raven put her hands together and pointed them towards Summer, creating a small barrier to shield her and the others from the blast.

The energy explosion caused everything in the area to shift several feet, just enough to uncover the tunnel area for their escape.

"Now!" Taiyang yelled to the others as he dashed over and looped his arms around Summer's body and made a break for the exit.

The team dove through the ever-narrowing corridor and landed safely on the other side. Groans of pain and relief echoed in the area as the group began checking each other for injuries. Qrow got up slowly and took point on the way back to the camp. Taiyang and Raven looped Summer's arms around themselves and picked her up, being careful not to strain her too much as she was barely half conscious.

"Hang in there," Taiyang said "We're almost at the camp."

"She's in pretty bad shape" Raven looked over "She is physically and mentally exhausted and her aura is practically depleted."

"More bad news," Qrow greeted them as they arrived "The camp is a mess." He looked around "That tremor really did a number on the place."

"Let's put her down over there." Raven pointed to a clear spot next to the stream "We can fix up the camp after we regained some of our strength."

They put Summer down and started a small fire next to her for warmth then proceeded to clean up and rebuild their camping ground, moving rocks and rearranging their provisions that were scattered throughout the area. Little did they realize that yet another tremor was on its way. This, however, was a tremor of a different kind.

"You hear that?" Taiyang put the cups in his hands down and began looking through the area.

"Another earthquake?" Raven stood up.

"This is different" Qrow answered as he readied his weapon. "Something is coming."

"What do you-" Raven was cut off as a part of the wall exploded, causing several Grimm to appear. "This isn't good." she readied her weapon.

The battle commenced as Taiyang charged forward and engaged the first group of Grimm, knocking them back in an attempt to push them into the tunnel they arrived from. Qrow attempted to support but turned his attention when yet another segment exploded with yet another group of enemies. Raven jumped in for support and for a moment, it seemed like the team would be able to manage the situation, until the mountain began to shake once more.

"Another tremor!" Taiyang dodged a falling rock "We need to clear out!"

"Raven! Grab Summer and look for an escape!" Qrow stated as he cleaved an Ursa.

"Got it!" Raven sheathed her sword and started to dash towards her friend, her speed hindered drastically by her wavering balance. She doubled her efforts when she noticed that the ground around Summer began to crack and give way. "Summer!" she gasped as she leapt forward and slid towards her objective. She reached out her hand to grab her falling comrade but missed by mere inches. Summer's semi-conscious body fell into the void, the noise of battle and Raven's cry fading from her ears.

~xX*Xx~

"...ve..."

"Go...help..."

"...you ok?"

Summer's vision blurred and occasionally blacked out. She could hear voices that seemed distant, but could feel the warmth of someone holding her. Her eyes looked around and tried to identify anything recognizable in the area, but her vision would not focus properly. Just as she was about to give up trying to find any kind of landmark, her eyes caught a familiar looking emblem hanging from the belt of her rescuer.

"..." she opened her mouth to speak, but nothing escaped her lips. Her hand heavily reached towards the object.

"Don't talk" the stranger stated, unsure if the girl could hear at all.

Summer focused the last of her fading will as her vision began to darken. She took one last conscious breath before forcing one word from her lips.

" Σκιά "

* * *

 _A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed your holidays! I know I sure did haha. It is time to get back into the swing of things and kick off the new year with a...well you know :p So what did you think?_ _Leave your thoughts and comments below and let me know will ya? Thanks!_


	4. Strength of Will

_A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry its been a while, RL causing problems as usual. I want to take a moment and answer a couple questions brought up. 1) Why was the file called RWBY? Its a small homage to the series, just like Monty Oum's line at the end of one of the chapters. 2) What is a "3AM project"? Basically means I only write this stuff at 3AM when I am dead tired and can't think straight. I'll try to answer more stuff in the future, but I wanted to keep this space small so you can get into what you really came here for. With that said...enjoy!_

* * *

Strength of Will

 _July 7th Year 58_

 _It has been several weeks since I was rescued. Even now, I still do not know much at all. I have been bedridden all this time and I had regained consciousness only days prior. My body still feels like lead, but at the very least I am alive. What happened back there? Are the others ok? Who are these people? And most importantly; where am I? All of these questions still remain unanswered. One thing I do know is that those taking care of me so far harbor no ill intent. An old, patient woman looked after me all this time and let me feel calm and safe despite the maelstrom of thoughts and concerns that flowed through my mind. Despite how my situation looks, at least now I've been able to confirm that there are indeed survivors in this area. Whether or not they are inclined to listen to my proposal of reintegration, though, is yet to be seen._

A knock on the door interrupted Summer's thoughts as she slowly put her book away and shifted herself to greet the visitor.

"Doing better?" A young woman entered the room. Unlike the grandparent who was taking care of her previously, this one looked like she was just a few years older.

"Well enough to at least sit and do small tasks," Summer responded, her body still wrapped in white bandages.

"If nothing else, you look way better than when I found you." The woman pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat down. "I honestly thought you weren't going to make it."

"Thank you," Summer bowed her head "umm...?"

"My name is Crimson Fall," The woman responded "And you are?"

"Summer. Summer Rose."

"You are quite a long way from home, Hunter." Crimson leaned back in her chair. "You are a Hunter, are you not?"

"Yes, I am. How did you know?"

"Only descendants of Hunters, old men, and scholars know what this is." she produced a very worn, yet very familiar-looking, emblem. "But you are too inexperienced to be old and do not appear to be a scholar." she eyed the girl "So that means that you are of descent."

"No," Summer shook her head "My instructor told me about it. Her grandfather was a Shadow Hunter." She shifted her position "He died during the war."

The woman put the emblem away "So what brings you all the way out here? As I said earlier, you are a long way from any kind of civilization."

"I was sent here to find you, and-"

"Then I guess we have to kill you." Crimson interrupted.

"What?!" the girl's expression turned into pure shock.

"Everyone who has come looking for us has come with intent to kill." She slowly got up and pulled out Summer's dagger. "Now that we know your motive, we cannot let you leave here alive." She raised the dagger over her head.

"W-w-wait!" Summer stammered. "I-!"

The sound of metal cutting through the air silenced the girl as she instinctively raised her arms in front of her to block the attack. After several moments of anticipation, she slowly opened her eyes and tried to focus at a red object directly in front of her face. She pulled back a little bit and saw that it was a piece of sliced apple being held before her. Energy drained from her body as she released the tension and fell back into the bed, her heart racing and breathing ragged.

"If we wanted to kill you, we wouldn't have bothered rescuing you in the first place." Crimson laughed "Here," she offered the sliced piece of fruit. "You haven't fully recovered yet, but you seem to be good enough to at least start walking." She began carving up the remainder of the apple. "So tell me, why are you looking for us?"

"To bring you all home." Summer responded with certainty.

"We are home" the woman responded. "This area has been our home for generations."

"I mean back to the kingdom."

"..." Crimson leaned back and looked Summer in the eyes for several moments "You do understand what you are saying, yes?"

The girl nodded.

"And I am assuming that you were informed of why we decided to stay out here, correct?"

Another nod of confirmation.

"Then you should already know our answer."

"But I-!"

"The people of Vale abandoned us when we needed them the most. They left our ancestors to die in order to save themselves. We have record of the massacre that they faced, what the kingdom did to us. How they pulled their forces back and shot at those who tried to escape while the gates were being sealed off." Her eyes narrowed "Our answer is very clear."

"I see..."

She stood up and sighed in an attempt to dispel her growing anger. "Rest while you can," her expression softened "We will start your training when you awaken."

"Training?" Summer tilted her head.

"You are a Σκιά," she responded "Or at least, you were chosen by your instructor to be one." She walked to the door and opened it. "It is my duty as a fellow member to continue your training so that our teachings are not lost to the sands of time. Rest well, Summer Rose."

"But-!"

"And when you are done, you will leave here...and never come back."

~xX*Xx~

"Look at yourself." A voice echoed in the darkness. "How pathetic can you be?"

"Who are you?" Summer spun around, trying to locate the source of the sound, but nothingness was all that greeted her.

"We've been together all this time and you don't. Even. Know. I'm. Here." the voice scoffed, seemingly to come from everywhere. "No matter," it stated as the ground beneath Summer began to crack.

"Huh?!" the girl looked down, "What's going on?!"

"Fall into despair."

"Uwaaaaaah!" Summer flailed her arms in panic as she fell off the bed and landed with a dull thud. "Ugh..." she struggled to open her eyes as the beams of the morning light began to sear her vision. "What was that?" she asked no one in particular as she pulled herself up, her body aching from the impact and the lack of exercise.

A soft knock on the door echoed in the once quiet room before opening, a familiar-looking woman entering the room with a tray of hot food.

"Are you ok?" She asked as she walked over to the table and put down the tray. "Are you hungry, Hunter?"

"Hunter?" Summer looked at the woman oddly as she dragged herself back to bed. "Did you already forget my name, Crimson?"

"Oh!" the woman laughed "Crimson is my younger sister." She smiled and brought the bowl of soup over to the bed. "I'm Crystal. Crystal Fall."

"Sorry," the girl smiled sheepishly "You just resemble each other, that's all. But I do see that your auras are different. You have a kinder, softer feel to you."

"Thank you, Hunter" she reached the spoon out in an attempt to feed the injured girl "But I do sometimes envy my sister."

"Ah!" Summer panicked "My name is Summer. Summer Rose." she bowed slightly "I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier - that was rude of me."

"It's ok" the woman laughed and offered the spoonful of food "Eat up. You will need all your strength for what you are going to be doing."

"What do you mean?" she looked up questioningly. "Please pass me the bowl. It's embarrassing to be fed at this age."

"As you know, my sister is one of those Shadow Hunters." Crystal obliged and reached over to pour a cup of water. "She was trained by our grandfather when our parents died."

"I'm sorry." Summer put the spoon down and bowed her head slightly.

"Don't worry," she smiled gently and offered the cup "We were raised well. Although my sister had a bit rougher time than I did."

"Does this mean you are a Σκιά too?" Summer put the cup down and shifted on the bed to a more comfortable position.

"No." she replied "I was bedridden for a portion of my youth, so I was not able to undergo the same training my sister did." She leaned back on her chair "Although I have gotten a lot stronger since then, all I could ever really amount to was a mere rifleman." she sighed lightly "Although I am sort of glad that I did not have to go through all the rigorous hours of training and lecturing she did, it feels like the gap between us is widening." she paused for a few moments as she recalled some memories "I guess I'm just a little jealous" she laughed.

"And maybe a little lonely..." the listening girl muttered without realizing.

"Yeah, sometimes" Crystal answered back in a low whisper while she looked at the swirling water in her cup.

"Oh!" Summer realized her mistake "I'm so sorry, I-"

"It's fine," Crystal shook her head "And it is true." She put her cup down on the nearby table "My sister was always there for me - even through all the rough times she was having." She smiled as the memories came back to her. "She and a few others were trained by my grandfather to be fighters of exceptional skill. I understand that their work is dangerous and that my work as a rifleman is just as equally dangerous and important, it's just-" she took a breath, "it feels like I am being left behind, that's all." She chuckled lightly "And I am supposed to be the 'Older sister' in this relationship."

The young girl remained silent, not knowing what to say. She began to feel uncomfortable enough with the dreary atmosphere that her eyes began darting around the room, looking for something - anything! - to talk about, when a slight movement caught her eyes and she zoned in on the door.

"...!" a little girl gasped and hid in the hallway, causing both women to look over. The girl slowly looked around the door frame, seemingly half scared.

"Oh!" Crystal realized "Come in, don't be shy" she urged the child, who slowly walked over to the chair. "Summer Rose, meet Cinder Fall." She turned her attention back to the child "Come on say 'hi'."

"H-hello." Cinder greeted shyly while she gripped the woman's shirt even more.

"Nice to meet you." Summer smiled before turning her attention to the older woman "She yours?"

"She is my niece if that is what you mean" she laughed "Although I treat her as if she were my own. The Grimm attacks have been getting persistent as of late so Crimson has had her hands full outside of our village."

"How old are you, Cinder?" she turned her attention back.

"I'm four." the girl responded, becoming more comfortable to the stranger she'd never seen before.

"I see. You are a very brave girl. Are you behaving properly and helping your aunt and parents?"

The girl nodded a little vigorously as she displayed the sincerity of her response.

"Is her father a Soldier as well?" Summer patted the girl on the head lightly before leaning back against the wall again.

"Come here." Crystal put the child on her lap "My sister has been trying to track down the source of the growing Grimm activity for months but has come up empty." her face saddened "That, and she has a personal reason for leaving." her hands unconsciously tightened around the child slightly.

"I see." the silver-eyed girl stated, noticing the slight gesture. "It must be rough out here for everyone."

"It is." came the response "But we are a strong breed." She patted Cinder's hair "I understand that what the kingdom of Vale did to us was unforgivable, but at the same time, I also wish for a brighter, more stable future for the next generation."

"I'm sure all parents want that for their children."

"But I agree with the others." Crystal put Cinder down "Go on," she told the child before turning back to Summer "We do not want to go back to Vale."

"Well, why not try the other kingdoms?" she waved to the little girl who was exiting the room "You know? Maybe Mistral to the east."

"That would be beneficial for the people here," she nodded "However we lack the technology and resources to go there. All the equipment we have are put together from the scrap we find on our travels. Most of it are from an old company called Merlot Industries. Not to mention we have children and elderly here. Taking them out a journey on foot and then across the sea would be perilous."

"What if I called for help?"

"From where? Vale? Our people would rather die than receive help from the very kingdom that betrayed us." Her voice became stern "But..." she sighed "if there was a way we could leave this place and start a new life in another kingdom, I am sure no one would be against it."

"Then-"

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation as Crimson called from the hallway.

"I see you two have met." she observed as she walked through the door. "You doing any better?" She pulled up a chair and sat down next to her sister.

"Yes. Thank you." Summer responded.

"Good. You wouldn't be much of a Shadow Hunter if you let something like this be the end of you."

"What makes you think I am one?"

"You have silver eyes." Crystal responded. "A very rare and very special trait."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Legend states that those born with silver eyes are destined to fight." the other sister responded "Not just warriors or hunters...but as something more."

"What do you mean?"

"Tell me girl, do you have a master?"

"Wait, you can't be serious!" Crystal looked at her sister in shock.

An evil smile slowly formed on Crimson's face as she watched the girl muddle over the question. "Get yourself ready." she stated as she stood up and proceeded to leave the room.

"Crimson!"

"You can come too if you are that worried." She stated before turning her attention back to Summer. "Crystal will show you where the bath and everything else are. When you are finished, head to the classroom."

"O-okay," Summer responded as Crimson left the room, still unable to figure out what was going on. "I guess I should get ready." she turned to the remaining sister. "Would you mind showing me where the bath is?"

~xX*Xx~

"So, you made it." Crimson greeted as she watched Summer stagger through the door and into the room. "You getting your motor functions back?" she smirked as the girl eventually reached the desk and sat down.

"My body had not moved in all this time so the hot water really did a number on me." she groaned as her body ached.

"Well at least you're alive." a voice called from behind Crimson.

"Summer Rose," Crimson stepped aside to introduce the two people behind her "this is Mist."

"Hey~!" the aforementioned girl waved.

"She is in charge of our defenses and is a very talented sniper." she turned to the other person "And this is Rusty."

"Hello." He greeted.

"He's our head mechanic, in charge of repairing our weapons, grinding dust and crystals into ammunition, as well as creating a few other quirky things that you should probably stay away from."

"Hey!" the man pouted.

"Nice to meet you." Summer tried to stand up but found her body forcing her back down "Ow!"

"Watch yourself," Crystal moved to help "You haven't fully recovered yet."

"Now that you are here, we can begin." Crimson turned her attention to the two behind her. "Thank you for your reports. Now if you'll please excuse me, I have to teach a new student."

The two nodded and made small chatter regarding what they were going to do next as they walked out the door. Crystal did one final check on Summer before proceeding to join them.

"Do stay," Crimson urged, causing Crystal to turn on her heel. "You would do well to learn some of this stuff as well."

"But I'm not a Hunter."

"That doesn't mean you can't learn now can you? If you insist on leaving, though..."

"No, I'll stay!" the older sister continued towards the door before closing it and then pulling up a chair next to Summer.

"Good," Crimson sat down on the table behind her "Before we begin I would like to know how much you know." She directed her attention to Summer "How much do you know about Hunters, the Grimm, Aura in general?"

"Well," Summer started "I know that people's souls generate Aura, that is why the Grimm do not have it."

"What else?"

"People can train their bodies and mind to enhance their aura and increase their skills. This in turn allows them to receive further training and eventually become Hunters." she continued."They are trained at the many combat schools established around the world and eventually at one of the four Kingdom Academies."

"And what do they teach you there?"

"That the Grimm are stated to be attracted to generally negative feelings such as sadness, hostility, anger, fear, et cetera and are drawn to areas that, although humanity have long since abandoned, still hold residual traces of these feelings."

"Correct." Crimson nodded. "And that is why we consistently train the next generation of fighters to guard us from this threat. Much like your kingdoms and their cities, there will never be true peace. So one must always be prepared for war. What else?"

"We were taught that Hunters are supposed to be upright and honorable. To never give in to our dark side or negative emotions. To be pure." she instinctively reached for her cloak but only grasped air. "My hood!" she stood up in a panic, only to sit back down after her body ached "Ow ow ow!"

"Easy," Crystal helped the girl sit back down. "It's safe where it is."

"And this is where you are mistaken." Crimson continued. "Hunters are not supposed to be 'black and white', but somewhere along the line, that changed it seems."

"What do you mean?" Summer shifted herself into a more comfortable position on the chair. "We were taught to separate ourselves from negative feelings to fight on par with the Grimm."

"That may be for most of us," Crystal responded "But not for you. Silver eyes, remember?"

"What does that have to do with this?"

"It means you are destined to be something more." the younger sister answered "You will have to work even harder to unlock your true potential." Her face saddened "But it will always come at a great cost."

"Which is?"

"She means you'll have a rough life ahead of you." Crystal placed her hand on the young girl's shoulder. "Sure there will be moments where you can find happiness, take my sister for example: she is a Shadow Hunter and she managed to beat me at having a kid!" she laughed lightly "But..." she trailed off and looked at her sister.

"My husband was killed when the Grimm attacked the village about a year ago." Crimson continued. "I was out visiting our grandfather's grave in the valleys west of here. I was paying my respects when I started to see smoke coming from the village. I ran back as fast as I could and by the time I got here, the battle was reaching its peak."

"Numerous Grimm were rampaging around the area," the older sister followed up "My team was fighting desperately to hold them off while everyone else ran for shelter. Amidst the chaos we noticed that one of the Ursa was unusually powerful. It seemed to be radiating some kind of black aura around it. It was about this time that Crimson made it back to her team and joined the fight. We managed to defeat that powerful Ursa and turn him into dust, but there was something different when it died."

"What was it?" Summer asked, her interest piqued.

"It left behind a black crystal" Crimson answered. "And it seemed to be the source of its power as well as the thing attracting the Grimm." she crossed her arms "My husband figured it out and thought that if he could throw it off the cliff and into the valley, that the Grimm would cease their attack and follow the source. He was right. However it was also a fatal mistake." she frowned "The moment he touched the crystal, it began to corrupt him. A dark aura formed around his body much like what the Ursa it was previously housed in had. He screamed out in what must have been incredible anguish as his mind was being warped."

"The next thing we knew, he started attack us." Crystal continued "It was like watching a madman running around with rage. He could not tell friend from foe and just started screaming at the top of his lungs while he began to cut down both human and monster." she paused momentarily "We tried to reason with him-to help him fight it, but it was no use. Mist and I tried to disarm him by aiming at the crystal but the dark aura created a barrier around it, shielding it from our attacks. He was about to kill some of the villagers when-"

"When I shot him." the younger sister interrupted. "I shot him to break his stance and then I plunged my spear through the dark aura, into his heart and pushed him to the edge of the cliff and flung him into the abyss."

Summer's eyes widened in shock .

"In that split second I made the hardest decision of my life. I killed him in order to save the others."

Crystal lowered her head and closed her eyes to pay some respect to the memory.

"And now I am tormented day and night by how exactly I am going to explain all this to my daughter. She thinks her father is away on a journey, but she will have to know the truth at some point." She sighed "To make matters worse, my job requires me to patrol the area as well as deal with the increasing amount of Grimm in the area. All of it is taking up most of my time and is keeping me away from her. For a while I cursed my grandfather for making me like this. I cursed myself and my power. I wished that I had just a normal life, a normal family." The tone of her voice increased.

Crystal moved over and placed a reassuring hand on her sister's shoulder.

"My sister eventually pulled me out of it." She continued after a moment "She told me that our grandfather confided in her that he had to do the same. He too had sacrificed much during his years, but he never once regretted it. He knew that the world wasn't perfect, he knew that there were things he just couldn't change. But he never gave up on his belief that he could make the future a little bit better for the next generation. And if I were to honor everything that he stood for...neither could I."

"Let's take a break," Crystal broke the momentary silence "Would you mind getting us drinks?" she turned to her sister.

"Sure," Crimson answered, releasing the tension on her body. "I'll be back shortly."

"I know what you are thinking," the older woman looked at Summer once Crimson left the room. "You are asking yourself why we are telling you all this. You see, we both believe that you were destined to help change the world for the better, much like all those people of legend who have your special trait: Silver eyes." she stared at the girl's eyes for a moment "But we know that you have free will. In the end, it will be your decision to lead a normal life or to lead the life of a warrior."

Summer looked away and contemplated the decision placed before her.

"So 'What is this great cost' you ask?" Crystal continued "Some people were not meant to be happy." she reached out and held the girl's hand, drawing her attention and making eye contact once again "They were meant to be... great."

~xX*Xx~

"Taking a break?" A voice called out from the side.

Summer glanced over at the young man who had interrupted the reverie she had been lost in whilst aimlessly wandering around the camp.

"Rusty, was it?" She asked as she slowly walked over to him "Yeah, we're just having a small one before it's back to lessons." She looked around, trying not to strain her body so much. Her eyes landed on a dilapidated structure of sorts nearby. "That place yours?"

"Yeah" he proudly admitted "This heap of scrap is where I keep all my stuff. It may look useless - and I admit some of it is - but I find ways to put them together and make things work."

"I see..." The girl looked at the equipment with a mixed expression.

"Oh hey, since you're here, why don't you look at my masterpiece in the making?"

"Sure. I don't have much to do at the moment anyway."

They walked around to the back side of the scrap pile and towards the workshop. There Summer's senses were greeted by the flash of flames, the sound of steel, and the smell of gunpowder. She looked a little impressed by how the small factory was despite the amount of work going on. There were several people inside working the odd-looking machines that appeared to be put together from a bunch of random parts. Eventually they made their way to the back of the shop and into a large room.

"This is it." Rusty proclaimed.

"It's a helicopter!" Summer's eyes widened "Does it work?!"

"Unfortunately, no." the mechanic shook his head "I've been working on this thing for the better part of a year now. I'm still missing some parts and then there's the matter of fuel... Still though, I say I am about a few months away from testing it out."

"I see." Part of the girl's enthusiasm vanished. She had hoped that she could use the machine in order to get home, but it seemed that she was still out of luck.

"Don't worry." the man walked up and tapped the metal door "If you can help out in the expeditions to bring back parts, this baby will be flying you home in no time."

"Thanks," she smiled. "I'll be counting on you!"

"Well you better run back, kid" he pointed towards the exit "I think I hear Crystal calling for you."

~xX*Xx~

"So are you ready to continue?" Crimson asked as she and the others walked through the door.

"Yeah." Summer responded and made her way to her seat. "That walk helped me clear up some of the fatigue in my body."

"Good." the woman placed a cup of hot chocolate down on Summer's desk before doing the same for her sister. "Let's continue."

"Thank you." Crystal nodded and quietly took a sip.

"Before we took a break," the younger sister walked back to her spot and sat down, adjusting her cup so she wouldn't accidentally hit it "We were talking about our teachings being different regarding the negative scope of emotions."

"Yes." Summer nodded "Why would you teach someone to use negative emotions? Won't that just attract the Grimm?"

"Because it is part of unlocking the powers of a Shadow Hunter." The instructor responded

"What do you mean?"

"Let's look at it this way." She opened up a small holographic monitor beside her "Let's put these emotions as say, a spectrum of color." She moved the screen between them so the two could see it better. "Now how do you generate your power?"

"By concentrating my will." the girl answered.

"Ok. We will mark that as one color." she pressed a button and the word 'Will' was highlighted in green. "Name one negative emotion"

"Fear."

"Fear, you say attracts the Grimm." she highlighted the word with the color yellow. "Another one?"

"Anger."

"So Rage then." another highlight appeared coloring it in red. "Anything else?"

"There are tons!" the girl responded "Like Greed! You can't possibly expect me to list them all."

"Ok. We will use that as the last one. Greed." she highlighted it in orange. "Now you pretty much said earlier that the Grimm are the darkness and we are the light. And since the Grimm seek nothing but death, we will mark them as such." she highlighted the word 'Death' in black. "Looks bad doesn't it?"

"Yeah." Summer calmed down "This is why-"

"What about Hope?" Crimson interrupted and highlighted the word in blue. "What about Compassion?" she highlighted the word in indigo. "How about Love?" the word got highlighted in violet. "Those are not negative emotions."

"Yes that is true, but-"

"And since you said we are the opposite to the Grimm, the opposite of those who bring death is Life." she highlighted the word in white. "Do you see what I am getting at?"

"I think I understand..."

"These other colors that you people deem 'worthless' are actually a greater source of strength than you realize." She crossed her arms "You think you have power now just because you've mastered your control of will? Wait till you unlock your true power as a Σκιά. When you have mastered darkness and light and all the colors in between, then and only then will you become a true Shadow Hunter."

Summer looked down and tried to process everything she just heard. The things she was just taught were conflicting to everything she had learned in school up until now, so it was very hard for her to accept. She understood what was being taught and she knew that it made logical sense, however she was scared of the consequences of such actions and even questioned what kind of person it took to even dream of mastering such ability.

"Come with me for a moment", Crimson tilted her head towards the door "It seems that you need time to understand everything. I believe some fresh air will help you out." She looked at her sister "We'll be heading to _that_ place for a while."

"Ok." Crystal nodded "I'll see you guys in a couple hours then."

"Where are we going?" Summer asked out of curiosity as they exited the room.

"We're going outside the village for a bit. There is a place I want to show you." she produced Summer's dagger from a nearby bookshelf and handed it to the girl "This belongs to you."

~xX*Xx~

"Wow, this place is incredible!" Summer gasped as they reached a small valley just outside of town "The air is so clean here."

"Yes," the Crimson agreed "this is where I tend to go when I need time for myself, amongst other things."

"You're right," the girl spread her arms to bask in the sunlight "This is a good place to think. Is this why you brought me out here?"

"Partially," the woman answered "I believe that it would be easiest for you to learn about things firsthand since your body should be recovered enough by now." Her eyes narrowed as a murderous aura emanated from her core.

"What the...?!" Summer whirled around as the dangerous feeling reached her, instinctively raising her weapon in a defensive stance.

"Very good," the instructor smiled while extending her hand out to her side, a small black flame erupting and taking on the form of a lance before revealing its master's weapon and vanishing. "If you believe you can defeat your enemies with just the power of your will alone, then show me." She poised her weapon and lunged forward.

The girl gasped and threw herself to the side with all her might, barely escaping the tip of the lance. She rolled after her impact and forced herself on her feet again. She had little time to recover as she felt a large energy from her side. She turned to try and counter but was too late. The foot of the lance landed square on her stomach, causing her to bend over and fall on top of it. The next thing she knew, she was being flung into the air.

Crimson leapt up after the girl and when she was passed, she arched her body and began a dive, spinning on her axis to increase her diving momentum. The heel of her boots landed squarely on the girl's chest and she remained 'standing' on Summer as they plummeted to the ground. The earth shook upon impact and Summer cried out in pain as the wind was literally knocked out her. She looked up at her attacker who seemed to be completely unaffected by the landing.

"Well then," Crimson transformed her weapon into a rifle and pointed it at Summer's face, a ball of white energy forming at its base "Let the lessons begin."

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you guys once again for being patient. Hopefully this is enough to quell you all over till the next chapter XD. So what did you think? Please l_ _eave your thoughts and comments below and let me know will ya? Thanks!_

 ** _~*Bonus*~_**

"Cinder huh?" Ruby closed the book and stretched her arms over her head "I wonder if shes related to the Cinder we met before the break, you know the one from Mistral."

"That would be too much of a coincidence I think." Yang shook her head "Besides, you look so much like your mom she would have totally recognized you if she was."

"Well, I guess..." the younger girl stood up and moved the group of books to the shelf, completing their quest to clean the attic.

"Hey girls! We're back!" a voice called from downstairs.

"Come on, Ruby" Yang waved "Dad's home!"

"Great! We should let him read this too, find out what he thinks." she grabbed the diary and followed her sister downstairs "Won't he be in for a surprise..."


End file.
